The present disclosure generally relates to transitional abutments for use in dental implant surgical procedures and, in particular, relates to a universal transitional abutments for use in dental implant surgical procedures that can be used regardless of the dental implant manufacturer.
A dental implant is an artificial tooth root replacement. A typical implant consists of a titanium screw (resembling a tooth root) with a roughened surface. An osteotomy, or precision hole, is carefully drilled into jawbone and the implant is installed in the osteotomy. The most common treatment plan calls for several surgeries over a period of months. Quite a few manufacturers make dental implants including Bicon Dental Implants, BioHorizons, Nobel Biocare, Straumann, Osteocare, Osteo-Ti, 3i, Zimmer, Astra Tech, Ankylos, Implant Direct, Intra-Lock, Lifecore, Bio-Lok and Diskimplant to name a few.
Healing and integration of the implant with jawbone occurs over several months in a process called osseointegration. At the appropriate time, the dental professional uses the implant to anchor a permanent crown. The dental professional can be, for example, a oral surgeon, a periodonist, general dentist, or any suitable dental professional. Since the implants supporting the restoration are integrated, which means they are biomechanically stable and strong, the patient is immediately able to masticate (chew) normally.
During the first stage, or immediate loading, of the dental implant procedure, at edentulous (without teeth) jaw sites, a pilot hole is bored into the recipient bone, taking care to avoid vital structures. Once properly torqued into the bone, a cover screw is placed on the implant, then the gingiva or gum is sutured over the site and allowed to heal for several months for osseointegration to occur between the titanium surface of the implant and jawbone. This stage results in an unattractive gap in teeth of the patient where the permanent crown of the implant will eventually go. The dental professional, or a dental laboratory, could fabricate a custom first stage temporary abutment to fit over the cover screw and to fill the gap. However, in general, such a temporary abutment is expensive in terms of both time and cost. Therefore, this procedure is rarely done at this stage even though it is frequently requested by the patient.
After what could be several months, a second stage of the dental implant procedure is performed. The implant is uncovered in another surgical procedure, usually under local anesthetic by the dental professional, and a healing abutment is placed onto the implant. The healing abutment can protrude through the gum tissue of the mouth. This healing abutment encourages the gum to grow in the right scalloped shape to approximate a natural tooth's gums and allows assessment of the final aesthetics of the restored tooth. The healing abutments are typically made from a titanium alloy and therefore are silver in color. Consequently, the patient will then have a silver post protruding through the gum at the site of the dental implant. Therefore, the titanium post can be physically unappealing and can be visible to the eye from weeks to months. Once the correct gum growth has occurred, a third, and final, stage of the dental implant procedure is performed and a permanent crown will be fabricated and placed on the implant and locked into place.
When dental implants are placed in the anterior portion of the mouth, the thickness of the bone at that point will determine the angulation of the dental implant. If the patient has suffered trauma in that area, or is edentulous, or for any other reason such as periodontitis, the bone in the anterior maxilla, or upper jaw, or the bone in the anterior mandible, or lower jaw, may be compromised. Having the bone be comprised can occur quite frequently. When bone compromise occurs, the dental professional will have to angulate, or tilt, the dental implant either in the labial direction (i.e., towards the face) or in the lingual direction (i.e., towards the tongue). Only in a small percentage of time is the dental professional able to place the anterior dental implant directly in line with the long axis of the restoration.
In order to correct for any angle discrepancies, the dental professional typically would have to purchase an angulated titanium abutment or custom create a gold or ceramic abutment. A custom created temporary crown could cost the dental professional between about $150 to about $700 and would require weeks to create. Additionally, the typical custom temporary crown would require an indirect impression technique to be performed requiring at least two office visits for the patient.
In general, the traditional denture restoration systems use a cap or an “O” ring that employ a ball and socket type fixation. In these systems, a ball abutment is typically permanently screwed into the dental implant. A keeper, or socket, is formed into the denture into which an “O” ring is locked. This “O” ring interacts with the ball abutment to maintain the denture on the ball abutment. Typically, the denture and the “O” ring are removable for hygiene and maintenance and are not permanently installed in the patient's mouth. Additionally, the typical ball and socket systems are not used to correct or any angle discrepancies. Examples of ball and socket systems are Dalla Bona—ORS (“O” Ring System), Allegro OTCap, Gijin Compact, Uni-anchor and Flexi Post.
Therefore, there is a need for a transitional dental abutment that approximates the natural appearance of a patient's own tooth in terms of anatomical structure and color.
There is also a need for a transitional dental abutment that can be universally used by a dental professional regardless of the manufacturer of the implant, readily available, and cost effective.
There is an additional need for an anterior universal transitional abutment that is permanent, inexpensive and easily installed.